U.S. Senate top Republican refuses Democrats' framework on impeachment trial

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks at a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on Dec. 17, 2019. Mitch McConnell on Tuesday refused Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer's framework on impeachment trial including testimony from four former and current White House senior officials, signaling that he wants the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump to mirror that of Bill Clinton. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday refused Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer's framework on impeachment trial including testimony from four former and current White House senior officials, signaling he wants the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump to mirror that of Bill Clinton.

Speaking from the Senate floor, the top Republican in the Senate said he is not inclined to call in witnesses, at least not before the trial starts. He didn't rule it out either.

"The basic procedural framework of the Clinton impeachment trial served the Senate and the nation well, in my view," McConnell said. "I still believe the Senate should try to follow the 1999 model."

If similar to the Clinton impeachment trial, the Senate would likely pass two resolutions by a simple majority vote at the start of the trial. The first resolution would sketch out the basic things like scheduling, opening arguments, and the timing of motions.

The second resolution, McConnell said, offered more details about the latter half of the trial, including what, if any, witnesses to allow until after the trial starts and both sides make opening arguments. Schumer wants one resolution that would cover both procedure and calling specific witnesses to be passed at the outset.

The Senate Majority Leader said Schumer's proposal could "only incentivize an endless stream of dubious partisan impeachments in the future, and we will invite future houses to paralyze future Senates with frivolous impeachments at will."

"The Senate Democratic leader would apparently like our chamber to do House Democrats' homework for them. He wants to volunteer the Senate's time and energy on a fishing expedition," McConnell said, calling Schumer's proposal "dead wrong".

McConnell also slammed the House Democrats' effort as the "most rushed, least thorough, and most unfair impeachment inquiry in modern history," urging the Democrat-led House to "turn back from the cliff" and not impeach Trump.

In direct response to McConnell, Schumer said Tuesday on the floor, "I did not hear a single sentence, a single argument as to why the witnesses I suggested should not give testimony. Impeachment trials, like most trials, have witnesses. To have none would be an aberration. Why is the leader, why is the president so afraid of having these witnesses come testify?"

"We will have votes on whether these people should testify. And whether these documents should be made public and part of the trial, and the American people will be watching. They will be watching," Schumer said. It would take 51 votes in the Senate, or a simple majority, to pass motions on witnesses' testimony in an impeachment trial.

The Senate Democratic leader sent a letter to McConnell over Democrats' framework on impeachment trial on Sunday, calling for at least four witnesses to testify, including former national security adviser John Bolton; acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney; Robert Blair, Mulvaney's senior adviser; and Michael Duffey, associate director for national security at the Office of Management and Budget. All of them refused to participate in the House investigation.

McConnell said last week that he will be "in total coordination" with the White House in determining the Republican strategy for the impeachment trial, which is expected to start in January.

"Everything I do during this I'm coordinating with the White House Counsel. There will be no difference between the President's position and our position as to how to handle this," McConnell said. "There's no chance the president will be removed from office."

The Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee on Friday passed two articles of impeachment, accusing Trump of abusing power and obstruction of Congress. Trump will be impeached if the House approves either of the two articles by a simple majority vote.

Under the U.S. constitution, the House shall have the sole power of impeachment while the Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.

Conviction can only happen in the Senate and requires at least two-thirds of its members, or 67 senators, to vote in favor after a trial. Currently, the Senate has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents.